No Respite
by Violet Garnets
Summary: Even on vacation, Robin can’t escape all of Jump City’s illustrious characters. For the TTS summer ficathon. Slash. Red X/Robin.


**Title:** No Respite  
**Rating:** PG  
**Warnings:** Not much. A little fight and Red's dirty mind.  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Teen Titans. Nor Batman.  
**Summary:** Even on vacation, Robin can't escape all of Jump City's illustrious characters.  
**Notes:** For prompt #5 – Where'd you go? at the TTS summer ficathon.

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3:34

The bright red bore into Dick's eyes, and he imagined the numbers shaping into the veins encircling his irises. The covers felt stiff and heavy, the pillow squishy and lank. His mind was running in overdrive.

All-nighters weren't anything unusual for Robin. They were actually routine for him. But tonight, he wasn't Robin. He was Dick Grayson, adopted son of Bruce Wayne. And not getting any sleep probably wasn't a good idea.

It was his second night back in Gotham. Dick thought he needed a break from being a Titan. After breaking up with Starfire, things around the tower had gotten…awkward, to say the least. Jump was in pretty good shape, crime rates slowing down unbelievably. Things were just sort of lining up for Robin to take a vacation. Unfortunately, the adjustment to all-time hero to all-time normal guy was proving to be difficult.

He pulled himself out of bed and walked downstairs to the kitchen. As much as he hated tea, maybe Alfred's recommendation could help him out a little. If not, the sleeping pills were always an option. He gripped the doorknob, twisted it slowly, and leaned against it slightly—Wait.

There were noises in the kitchen.

It couldn't be Alfred. The elderly man was sleeping in his room, judging by the soft snoring Dick heard when he passed by. And it was still a little early for Batman to finish his patrol. So the question was: who was it?

Dick tried not to roll his eyes. Even during "vacation", he couldn't get any peace, could he?

With a feline speed, he opened the door and flicked the lights on, exposing the intruder. But before he could react, he was pinned to the wall by a sticky red substance. His eyes widened when he saw who was on the other side of the kitchen. A tall, well-built male dressed in all black. Around his waist was a cheap, makeshift utility belt. His face was covered with a white skull-like mask emblazoned with a bright red X.

"What do you want?" Dick's voice ended up a bit squeaky, despite his efforts to sound courageous, normal, like _Robin_.

"Money, and some other essentials. Why else would I be here?"

Dick suddenly remembered who he was, and who he wasn't. His question didn't exactly specify exactly what he was thinking about, did it?

The other man continued speaking. "Let's make this easy, shall we, kid? Where's the money?"

"Why are you here?"

A sigh reverberated through the kitchen. "I thought we already went through this."

"No, I mean, aren't you Red X?"

"Wow," the thief whistled softly. "I'm that famous. Or are you just a devoted fan?"

Dick nearly choked. His face burned with embarrassment. "No. I just watch the news. But aren't you from Jump City? Why are you in Gotham?" It was almost funny, he thought, that he didn't fall into the normal guy routine until he ended up being a damsel in distress.

"I usually don't entertain potential sources of money, kid. Now tell me where it is." As Red X spoke, he opened up a drawer and began rummaging through it.

"Not until you tell me why you're here in Gotham."

Red X sighed. "Jesus," he muttered to himself. "Let's just say…I've lost something and I'd like to have it back. I heard I could find it here."

"I bet you stole it." Dick's eyes widened for a brief moment upon hearing Red X laugh. The robber didn't give an explanation for his sudden amusement. By now, he had finished up with the drawers and had moved to the side of the room closer to Dick.

Red sighed. "I don't know why I keep looking here. You guys obviously aren't the kind to leave money hanging around the house. Ooh!" He fished out an elegantly sharpened knife. "Nice." He brandished it around, a pirate with his cutlass. "I should use it…" He pointed the knife at Dick. "On you, maybe?"

"You wouldn't." The teen spat. He continued his battle with the sticky substance holding him captive. "You wouldn't get past Batman." Dick suddenly remembered he didn't necessarily need to ring Batman. He could wake Alfred up with a yell and this would be done with...but for some weird reason, he kept blurting out things. Why did Red X always make him act on impulse?

"Good point. You're not as stupid as you look."

Dick resisted the desire to childishly stick his tongue out.

Red X put the knife back in its proper place, and then hoisted himself onto the countertop with an almost graceful leap. He leaned forwards and propped his head on his arms, in turn resting on his legs. "Speaking of this Batman…you wouldn't happen to know where he is right now, would you?"

"No. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

The thief shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm not even looking for him anyway."

"Then why'd you ask?"

"What I want…is closely related to the famous Dark Knight."

Dick was getting annoyed. Annoyed that he couldn't figure for what and why Red X was here, annoyed that he couldn't get out of his trappings, annoyed that he was Dick Grayson and not Robin, _annoyed that his heart couldn't stop beating any slower_. He sighed. "How much do you need?"

"What?" Red X was genuinely surprised, judging by the slight inflection in his voice.

"I've got some money upstairs. Get it and get out of here. Let me go too," he added with some afterthought, knowing the thief would happily leave him there if it wasn't part of some agreement.

"You're a weird one, kid." Nevertheless, he held up his gloved hand. It emanated a scarlet light for a moment and Dick's trappings fell to the floor and shrunk. Red was over to the teen's side in a flash of a moment and his gloved hand gripped Dick's shoulder tightly. "Now where's the cash?"

Dick grabbed the arm on his shoulder and heaved forwards, sending Red X flying over him.

The thief landed on all fours. He laughed loudly. "Ooh, the little one has tricks up his sleeve. Although I guess that doesn't work in this case, considering I can see your very nice abs just fine. Did you know I sleep shirtless too?"

Despite himself, Dick flushed a dark red. "You're not going to get away with that, Red X!" He suddenly realized how odd that sounded when he wasn't in hero garb.

"Ha-ha, you're a cute one," Red X chuckled. "Kind of remind me of someone…"

"Master Dick? Is everything alright?" Alfred's voice was bouncing rhythmically down the stairs. His footsteps pattered closer and closer.

Red X pressed the main button on his belt. "Off to look for Robin. See ya, kid." With one wave of his hand, he disappeared.

Alfred rushed into the kitchen to find a breathless young man leaning against the wall.

"He's looking…for me?"

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End file.
